Avengers: Endgame Directors Explain Decision to Cut Kneeling Scene

During an "Ask Me Anything"-style interview on Reddit, Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo told fans the reasoning behind leaving out a deleted scene that depicted the immediate aftermath of the film's climactic battle. Released online as part of the promotional campaign for last week's digital home release of the film, the scene -- which depicts the assembled Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy kneeling to pay homage to a fallen hero -- has received mixed reviews online from fans, some of whom think it would have been a fitting tribute to a beloved character and others who feel it would have been too on the nose and lacked the nuance of the character's funeral scene.

The deleted scene, which will be included on the film's Blu-ray release, also shows Gamora's quiet departure in the aftermath of the battle, confirming she is alive and in the year 2023. This, of course, is the Gamora who time-traveled here from 2014 and has no real experience with the Guardians of the Galaxy. The topic of the deleted scene came up during the AMA, when a fan asked why it got cut, saying that they liked it.

"We found the Avengers kneeling scene incredibly emotional as well, but when played in the run of the film, it felt incredibly similar to the moment when all of the heroes stood on the shore at Tony's funeral, paying their respects to him outside his home," Joe Russo answered. "The two scenes, when in the film together, seemed to fight one another, and created a repetitious ending."

Spider-Man: Far From Home is still in theaters, and Avengers: Endgame was just made available on digital services. Upcoming Marvel Studios projects include Black Widow on May 1, 2020, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier in Fall 2020, The Eternals on November 6, 2020, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on February 12, 2021, WandaVision in Spring 2021, Loki in Spring 2021, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on May 7, 2021, What If…? in Summer 2021, Hawkeye in Fall 2021, and Thor: Love and Thunder on November 5, 2021.